Adhesive bandages are a popular and widely used form of dressing to protect relatively small or minor skin wounds and blemishes. When used on children, the application of an adhesive bandage, by itself, may not be enough to overcome the child""s initial reaction upon receiving the wound. As many parents can attest, a child who accidentally falls and scrapes a knee or elbow may provide a reaction that results from 5% physical pain and 95% emotional factors, such as surprise, fear, abandonment, etc. (these numbers have not scientifically researched by inventor but instead come from practical experience).
Currently, there exists in the marketplace adhesive bandages directed particularly for use with children. These bandages have screened-on designs which are appealing to children, and include, for example, animal shapes, cartoon or other fictional characters, or bold colors. Such designs are marketed to help xe2x80x9covercomexe2x80x9d the aforementioned emotional reactions of children by directing their attention away from the wound and toward something visually appealing.
However, the visual stimulation of the bandage design is often not enough to calm the child. Accordingly, there is a need for an adhesive bandage which helps to calm a child and overcome the emotional reaction caused by a minor skin wound or blemish to which an adhesive bandage would be applied under normal circumstances. Such an improved adhesive bandage should be relatively easy to manufacture and use.
It is a principal object according to the present invention to provide an improved adhesive bandage which is able to improve a child""s mood or emotional discomfort upon receiving a minor flesh wound, or other skin condition to which an adhesive bandage would be applied under normal circumstances.
It is another object according to the present invention to provide an adhesive bandage which provides for sensory stimulation to a child or other user who has a minor wound to which the adhesive bandage is suitably applied.
It is still another object according to the present invention to provide an adhesive bandage which provides olfactory stimulation to a child or other user to whom the bandage is applied.
It is yet another object according to the present invention to provide an adhesive bandage having olfactory, visual and auricular stimulation to a person to whom the bandage is applied.
Accordingly, keeping with the goals and objectives according to the present invention, a first embodiment provides for an adhesive bandage which is adapted to be applied to a user""s skin wound. The adhesive bandage includes a flexible backing layer having a rear surface, a pad portion which is attached to the rear surface of the backing layer, and an adhesive portion which is disposed on the rear surface of the backing layer away from the central pad portion. The adhesive adheres the bandage to the user""s skin. Also included are fragrance portions which are disposed within the adhesive portion, and a release cover which is releasably secured to the adhesive portion, which when removed, allows for release of a scent associated with the fragrance portions. In this embodiment, the adhesive bandage the fragrance portions include micro-capsules of fragrance. Also, the release cover sheers the fragrance portions when removed in order to release the scent.
In another embodiment, an adhesive bandage and wrapper assembly is provided which includes a sealed wrapper which has an inner surface and an interior compartment. It also includes an adhesive bandage which is disposed within the interior compartment of the sealed wrapper and which has an adhesive side and a non-adhesive side. Also included is a fragrance portion disposed on at least one of the inner surface of the sealed wrapper and non-adhesive side of the adhesive bandage, such that the when the sealed wrapper is opened, a scent is released which is associated with the fragrance portion.
Any of the adhesive bandages disclosed herein may include at least one character disposed thereon which corresponds to the scent released.
Also provided in accordance with the teachings disclosed herein, a method of forming a wrapped and scented adhesive bandage includes providing a wrapper having an inner surface and an outer surface; applying a fragrance having a scent to the inner surface of the wrapper or the outer surface of the bandage; positioning an adhesive bandage proximate the inner surface of the wrapper; and sealing the wrapper so that it encloses the adhesive bandage and the scent of the fragrance. It is contemplated that applying the fragrance includes applying a scented liquid or spray to the inner surface of the wrapper or the exterior surface of the bandage.
The above objects and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the best modes for carrying out the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.